(Walking) In the Rain

Album: Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (1964)
Charted: 23
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Phil Spector co-wrote this song with the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It was the Ronettes' final Top 40 hit in the US.
  • Despite the song's title of "(Walking) In the Rain," this song is actually about a desire to find the right person to love.
  • This song contains special effects of a rainstorm. It received a Grammy in 1965 for Best Sound Effects.
  • Cher is featured on this song as a backup vocalist.
  • During the bridge of this song, the backup vocalists sing a certain number of male names and the lead singer (Ronnie Spector in this song) rejects all of them. These particular musical actions were previously done in the bridge of the Crystals' first hit "There's No Other (Like My Baby)."
  • A version by Jay & the Americans reached #19 in the US in 1970. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jerro - New Alexandria, PA, for all above
  • Ronnie Spector recorded her vocals for this song in just one take. She recalled to Uncut magazine in 2016: "They (Mann, Weil, Spector) were writing it while we were in London. When I came back, I told them I loved the English rain and fog - we had to stop the tourbus with the Stones to wait for the fog to lift. When it came to the vocal, I went in the booth, closed my eyes and - boom! I said, "Shall I do it again?' And they said, 'No, that was it.'

    Back in the '60s, you hadn't the technology, so you had to do each song, or vocal, over and over. But this was one take. So it means more to me than just the lyrics. It was the fact I had my eyes closed, I stepped up to the mic and it just melted out of me."

Comments: 8

  • Roy from SloughNot as good as Johnny Ray.
  • Moanin' Lisa from Chillicothe Mo.Such a great song & a good hit for The Ronettes. I believe it earned a Grammy in '65 for Phil Spector. I also recall that Billboard magazine was always "off" when it came to rating most rock & roll songs way back then. I never referred to Billboard, but always read the charts in Cashbox and Song Hits magazines. I recall the local AM radio stations would issue weekly charts sponsored by some soft drink company (Pepsi, Coke, Nesbitt, Royal Crown Cola, etc.) and that Be My Baby hit #1 in the Kansas City radio stations in '63. Baby I Love You hit #7, as did Do I Love You, and Walking In The Rain hit #9. I loved this record when it was climbing the charts. My first boyfriend bought me this 45 rpm single. He was nuts over The Ronettes. This record brings back some good memories of high school.
  • Babbling Babette from Tulsa OkVery good record & hit for The Ronettes. Love that thunder & The Wall of Sound !! I loved everything they did in the Sixties with Phil Spector. That Wall of Sound production was absolutely stunning to hear, back in the pre-stereo years. Some years ago, The Ronettes got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame too. Well deserved. I believe Ronnie & Nedra are still alive, but Estelle passed away some years ago. Rock on, Ronettes!!
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn November 16th 1969, "Walkin' in the Rain"* by Jay & the Americans entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #89; and on February 1st, 1970 it peaked at #19 {for 1 week} and spent 15 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #8 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart...
    Between 1962 and 1971 the Queens, NY quintet had twenty Top 100 records; four made the Top 10, "She Cried" {#5 in 1962}, "Come A Little Bit Closer" {#3 in 1964}, "Cara, Mia" {#4 in 1965}, and "This Magic Moment" {#6 in 1969}...
    They just missed having a fifth Top 10 record when "Let's Lock the Door" peaked at #11 in 1965...
    * Exactly five years earlier on November 16th, 1964 the original version by the Ronettes was at #34 on the Top 100; and thirteen days later on November 29th, 1964 it would peak at #23 {for 2 weeks}.
  • Kevin from CaliforniaThe liner notes on "Best of the Ronettes" say this song was done on the 1st and only take.
  • Elmer from Westville, Ok"Walking In The Rain" is a wonderful Ronettes/Spector hit. I agree that Billboard, in the 1960s, seemed to be off-the-mark on rating many rock & roll songs (and R&R songs too!). As a teen growing up in the Sixties, I preferred the ratings charts in Cashbox or Song Hits. Also, in the Sixties, most AM radio stations published their own hit charts for their listening area. In my home area (northeastern Oklahoma & northwestern Arkansas), most of the big AM stations put out their own chart lists weekly. I still have some from 1962 thru 1966. The AM stations are no longer in business though. I do recall that the major AM stations in my area rated the Ronettes' "Be MyBaby" at #1 and "Baby I Love You" at #2. Even "Walking In the Rain" rated in the Top Ten in northeastern Oklahoma AM stations in 1964. Wikipedia's bio on Phil Spector, the Ronette's producer at Philles Records, mentions that Spector's increasingly bizarre behavior in the Sixties made him some enemies in the hit chart rating business. Perhaps that might explain why Billboard rated the Ronette's records as they did. If so, they were guilty of exhibiting unfair business tactics (unethical?) concerning the Ronettes' recordings. What is the truth?
  • Teresa from Mechelen, BelgiumA very good song like all the Spector songs.
  • Jeff from Bayshore, NyBillboard seemed to habitually underrate all of the songs by the Ronettes. Be My Baby went to #1 on all metro NYC radio stations for 4 or more weeks. Baby, I Love You peaked at #11 on NY's WABC radio (#22 Billboard), (Walking) In The Rain peaked at #7 in NY (#23 Billboard). I would tend to believe the NY charts were more representative of how popular these songs really were.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."